Midland Development Corp. to look at supporting Midland College, UTPB

Published 1:30 pm, Friday, February 25, 2011

The Midland Development Corp. board will consider in the coming months how it can support Midland College and other higher education programs as they grapple with state funding cuts.

MDC President Mike Hatley said whether it comes through a resolution of support and letters to Austin or through funding of work force training, the MDC wants to ensure it's behind Midland College.

"We're aware that the budget down there at the state is going to be cut and that's going to cut higher education," Hatley said. "We just want Midland College to know we want to support them in any way we can."

Providing an update to the board on Friday, Hatley said MDC officials reached out to Steve Thomas, president of Midland College, to see how the MDC could be of help.

Chairman Robert Rendall said they also should add the University of Texas of the Permian Basin to its list of institutions to support. The board agreed they would consider a resolution at a future meeting to support the entities.

Hatley said in addition to sending letters to Austin or passing a resolution, they also could consider providing some funding for Midland College's work force programs in jeopardy of losing state funding.

"As long as we could justify it under an economic development agreement we might consider that," Hatley said. "Some kind of mechanical or aviation related training and that kind of thing."

With the college poised to take a cut in state funding of between $5.5 and $7 million, according to House and Senate bills 1, Midland College could close certain vocational programs as well as increasing costs to students, according to a letter from Thomas.

Hatley said those programs and Midland College as a whole are a "huge part" of the city's economic development and they want to help the institution in whatever way they can.

In other business, the Midland Development Corp. board and staff members called the cancellation of a $2 million agreement with Basic Energy Services a success during its meeting.

Passing the resolution unanimously, the board agreed to allow chairman Robert Rendall the ability to execute any documents necessary to release Permian Plaza LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Basic Energy Services L.P., from its $2 million economic development agreement.

In exchange for being let out of the agreement so it can sell the refurbished Permian Plaza to Concho Resources, Basic will repay the $1 million it already has received. The additional $1 million was to be paid after a certificate of occupancy was issued.

The initial deal was meant to help the company create additional office space downtown as well as creating public parking. Of the company's 440-space parking garage that's been constructed, 75 spaces were to be open to the public.

Laura Roman, board treasurer, noted that Concho Resources didn't want to take over the deal because they have enough employees to fill the plaza as well as the full parking garage. She said the MDC is working toward conducting a parking demand study downtown so it can assess what needs to be done to address the lack of public parking downtown in other ways.

Hatley acknowledged the MDC didn't spur the development of the complex but said they were glad to play a role.

"It benefits the central business district and the taxing entities," he said. "It's a wonderful addition to the tax rolls."